Secure application access system

ABSTRACT

A proxy server receives a synchronization request from an application program resident on a user device. The proxy server determines that the user device requires removal of application program data and synchronizes the application program resident on the user device with a null account that is associated with application program.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit as a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/957,274, filed Aug. 1, 2015, the entire contents of the aforementioned is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, under 35 U.S.C. § 120. The applicant(s) hereby rescind any disclaimer of claim scope in the parent application(s) or the prosecution history thereof and advise the USPTO that the claims in this application may be broader than any claim in the parent application(s).

TECHNOLOGY

The present invention relates generally to data security, and in particular, to securing data on client devices external to corporate infrastructures.

BACKGROUND

The proliferation of sensitive corporate data outside of corporate-controlled infrastructures is becoming more widespread as IT departments allow employees to use personal computing devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, etc., to access the corporate-controlled infrastructures. IT departments have little control over employee-owned devices. Data loss can occur when an employee or former employee distributes or misplaces corporate data to third parties. Of the two sources, the loss of data in devices that are owned by former employees is more of a concern.

Current solutions for providing such security are broadly called “Mobile Device Management” solutions. Such solutions require the corporation to install a software agent on each personal computing device. In the event the device is lost or the employee leaves the corporation, the software agent can be remotely activated to delete all data owned by the corporation on the device. At the same time, the agent does not delete personal data such as photos, etc., that belong to the user rather than the corporation. The installation and management of software agents on each computing device, whether privately owned by the employee or owned by the corporation, is a difficult and expensive process as there are a large number of different devices running different software systems.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a topology of a proxy system, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a network proxy, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3a shows a flow chart, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3b illustrates a proxy in a network, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a proxy in an encrypted tunnel, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an access and logging embodiment, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a document watermarking and tracking embodiment, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a configurable browser cache management embodiment, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a management console, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an encrypted storage embodiment, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example hardware platform on which a computer or a computing device as described herein may be implemented; and

FIG. 11 illustrates an automatic routing and failover embodiment, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments, which relate to secure applications access and data security, are described herein. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are not described in exhaustive detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily occluding, obscuring, or obfuscating the present invention.

Example embodiments are described herein according to the following outline:

-   -   1. GENERAL OVERVIEW     -   2. REMOTE WIPING OF APPLICATIONS ON MOBILE DEVICES     -   3. PROXY ROUTING     -   4. ANALYTICS AND REPORTING     -   5. DATA TRACKING AND WATERMARKING     -   6. BROWSER CACHE MANAGEMENT     -   7. MANAGEMENT CONSOLE AND ACCOUNTING     -   8. DATA ENCRYPTION     -   9. ENHANCED APPLICATION PERFORMANCE     -   10. IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS—HARDWARE OVERVIEW     -   11. EQUIVALENTS, EXTENSIONS, ALTERNATIVES AND MISCELLANEOUS         1. General Overview

This overview presents a basic description of some aspects of an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that this overview is not an extensive or exhaustive summary of aspects of the embodiment. Moreover, it should be noted that this overview is not intended to be understood as identifying any particularly significant aspects or elements of the embodiment, nor as delineating any scope of the embodiment in particular, nor the invention in general. This overview merely presents some concepts that relate to the example embodiment in a condensed and simplified format, and should be understood as merely a conceptual prelude to a more detailed description of example embodiments that follows below.

In some embodiments, information security risks caused by two trends in computing technology are addressed that include, but are not limited to: (a) the growing prevalence of user/employee-owned personal mobile computing devices, e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc., and (b) the shift in business computing applications being hosted on servers, as captive deployments, within a corporation to “cloud applications” being hosted by third party vendors on shared servers for multiple customers. As a result, sensitive business data resides on servers not owned by the business and is transmitted by networks not owned by the business to client devices owned by the user/employee rather than the business. In such a situation, conventional techniques that secure the data by securing the infrastructure are no longer practicable.

In an embodiment, a system resides in the network path of corporate data. The system regulates user access to the data, as well as manipulates the data in such a fashion so as to secure it on infrastructure not owned by the corporation, e.g., client devices, shared servers, shared storage, shared networks, etc.

Various modifications to the preferred embodiments and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

2. Remote Wiping of Applications on Mobile Devices

In an embodiment, the security of corporate data on mobile devices is addressed. As mobile personal computing devices such as smartphones and tablets proliferate, users want to access sensitive corporate data from anywhere on any device. Often, the device is privately owned by the user rather than the corporation. For example, a doctor might want to access her email at a hospital from home, using her personal computing tablet. In such cases, corporations need to secure the data on the computing device so that it does not fall into the wrong hands.

As mentioned above, the installation and management of software agents on each computing device, whether privately owned by the employee or owned by the corporation, is a difficult and expensive process as there are a large number of different devices running different software systems.

Referring to FIG. 1, a topology of a proxy system is shown. In an embodiment, a proxy 101 can remotely and selectively delete corporate data on mobile computing devices without the need for software agents to be installed on each mobile computing device. Proxy 101 may essentially be in the “cloud.” Communication between proxy 101, server 102, and user device 104 may occur across network 105. Network 105 comprises, but is not limited to, any of: the Internet, intranet, local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), dedicated links, private computer networks, public computer networks, enterprise computer networks, etc. Mobile computing devices access any and all corporate applications through the network proxy 101. A mobile computing device as described herein can be, but is not limited to, any of: cellular phones, tablet computers, handheld devices, laptops, e-readers, personal computing devices, game devices, etc. Under normal conditions, the proxy 101 receives one or more network requests from one or more client application programs resident on the user's computing device 104 and then forwards the requests to the server 102. In turn, the proxy 101 receives the response from the server 102 and forwards it to the client software on the user's mobile device 104.

For each application program handled by the server 102, the proxy 101 maintains a null account 103 with no contents. For example, when an application is an email application, a null account would have no email messages contained in the account. In another example, when an application is a file storage application, a null account is an empty file folder with no contents. In yet another example, when an application is a calendar application, a null account is a calendar with no entries, appointments, etc. In yet another example, when an application is a list of contacts with phone numbers and addresses and so forth, a null account would be a list of contacts without entries. It is important to note that a null account is a valid account within the format appropriate to the application, but devoid of contents. Under an exception condition where the corporation wants to erase all application data for a particular application resident on the user's mobile device, the proxy 101 forwards the user request to the null account 103. The resulting “null” response in the appropriate format for the particular application is returned to the user's mobile device. The client software on the user's mobile device acts on the null response and synchronizes the client and the server, thereby deleting all the contents stored on the mobile device for the particular application. In an embodiment, synchronizing the mobile device with a null account as described above is useful when the user's application account is in a non-empty state, e.g., where normal synchronization of the mobile device with the server 102 would leave residual data on the mobile device. Synchronizing with a null-account wipes out the data that would otherwise be resident on the mobile device. In contrast, simply denying access to the application would leave data resident on the mobile device.

As an example, a user accesses his corporate email via an email client on a smartphone. The email client saves the user's email account information and password. Each time the email client is opened, it synchronizes its contents with the user's mailbox on the server 102 by pulling down new email, updating calendar & contacts, erasing deleted email, etc. When the user connects to the email server 102 via the proxy server 101, under normal conditions, the email client synchronizes with the user's email account on the server 102. In an exception condition, the proxy 101 synchronizes the user's email client with an empty mailbox 103 causing all contents on the client to be erased. The proxy 101 erases sensitive content on the user's mobile device, without requiring a specialized software agent on the device. Although proxy server 101, server 102, and user mobile device 104 are shown in FIG. 1 as single entities, one or more of each element is possible in other embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2, a network proxy is shown. In an embodiment, the network proxy 101 supports various common application protocols such as email and http. In a typical deployment, traffic between the network proxy 101 and the mobile device 201 is encrypted via SSL. Likewise, traffic between the network proxy 101 and the application servers 102 is also encrypted. Within the network proxy 101, traffic is clear text, allowing for inspection and analysis.

Referring to FIG. 3a , a flow chart is shown. When a user accesses a corporate application 301 from a mobile device 201, the network proxy 101 registers the mobile device 201 under the user's login name and stores the registration in a table 303, if such an entry does not already exist 302. If an entry already exists 302, the proxy 101 checks to see if the entry carries an exception flag 304. If the exception flag is not set 106, the proxy 101 forwards the user client request to the server and access proceeds normally 306. If the exception flag is set 107, the network proxy 101 forwards the user request 305 to a null account 103 for that application hosted on the network proxy 101. In the latter case, the client corporate application on the user's mobile device 201 synchronizes with null account 103, thereby wiping out the contents of the corporate application on the user's mobile device 201.

Null accounts 103 for each application may be hosted on the network proxy 101, or in the server 102 for the corporate application. The network proxy 101 also carries a management console wherein an administrator can search for users and set exception flags for each device employed by a user to access corporate applications.

In an alternate embodiment, exception flags can be set individually for each application, so that the administrator can select the set of applications whose data are to be deleted on the mobile device 201.

In yet another embodiment, the invention could be implemented directly on the server 102 rather than a network proxy 101, thereby enabling selective remote wiping of all data for application programs resident on the server 102.

Commercial email offerings such as Google mail and Microsoft Exchange support a protocol called ActiveSync for synchronizing the content on mobile client devices and the server. ActiveSync also supports a number of security features such as password management and remote data wipe. Specifically, the email server keeps track of the mobile devices that access each email account. When a mobile device is compromised, a flag can be set on the management console that triggers a command being sent to the device to remotely wipe all the data stored. However, the remote wipe is typically total, rather than selective, in that all content on the client device is erased restoring the device to factory default conditions. In the case where the mobile device is personally owned by an employee, the ActiveSync remote wipe feature could lead to a catastrophic data loss for the employee since the approach erases both corporate data and personal data on the employee's mobile device, e.g., all of the user's photos on the mobile device would be erased.

To overcome this limitation, Mobile Device Management solutions commercially available from companies such as Good Technology, MobileIron, etc., install a software agent on each mobile device that accesses corporate applications. The agent on the device flags each piece of data downloaded to the device as being “corporate” or “personal.” When the device is compromised or lost, the remote wipe function can be used by the administrator to erase all corporate data from the device.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the proxy 101 may trap the ActiveSync remote wipe command between the server 102 and a compromised mobile device 201. Rather than forwarding the command to the mobile device 201, the proxy 101 may set the exception flag for the mobile device in its condition table. The management console on the email server 102 supporting the ActiveSync protocol may be used to trigger a remote wipe of a compromised mobile device, thereby preserving the operations of the present invention, where only data owned by the corporation is erased and personal data belonging to the user is untouched.

3. Proxy Routing

In an embodiment, an application resides at the URL www dot application dot com. The corporation creates an alternate URL for users to access, e.g., of the form www dot application dot proxy dot com and refers users to the alternate URL which points to the network proxy 101. The corporation can also restrict access to www dot application dot com to the proxy 101 so that users cannot directly access the application. Thus, such restriction is enforced by only permitting direct access to the application server 102 by the IP address at which the proxy 101 is located.

In an embodiment, direct access to the application may be restricted via a login process. Many applications allow the administrator to delegate login to a centralized directory in a company. Such delegation to a central directory is useful in a corporation where replicating the login information for every employee at each application is difficult to manage. The delegation may be implemented as a network call from the application server to the centralized directory, and may be specified as a URL or other means. In the case of delegated login, when a user attempts to login to an application from his content browser, the application redirects the user to the centralized directory. The user then presents his login credentials to the directory and, if successful, is redirected to the application. One aspect of an embodiment is a “man-in-the-middle” of the delegated authentication process that forces the final authenticated request to flow through the proxy regardless of whether the first request was made by the client directly to the application or through the proxy.

Referring to FIG. 3b , in an embodiment, a user attempts access 309 to the application 102 via a content browser 307. The application server 102 may redirect 310 the request to point to the centralized directory 308 via the proxy 101. The content browser 307 then visits the centralized directory 308 via the proxy 101 and, upon successful login 311, is redirected 312 via the proxy 101 back to the application 102. The user, via the content browser 307, then interacts 313 with the application 102 via the proxy 101. In an alternate embodiment, the first redirect 310 may be directed to the centralized directory 308 but, upon successful login to the centralized directory 308, the user is redirected to the application 102 via the proxy 101. In another embodiment, the proxy 101 can act as an authentication intermediary where it presents itself as the centralized directory to the application and as the application to the centralized directory. Hence, brokering all authentication requests and manipulating the requests and responses such that the final client request flows through the proxy. In the above cases, the user is forced to access the application via the proxy even though the user attempted to access the application directly.

In an embodiment, automatic routing and failover may be achieved using communication sequences or data exchanges (e.g., Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), etc.). FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a SAML proxy 1104 that can be placed in the data path between any combination of entities. In this example, the SAML proxy is in the data path between an application provider/application 1101, application proxy 1102, user agent 1103, and identity provider (IdP) 1105. The embodiment exposes an identity provider interface from identity provider 1105 to the application 1101. The application 1101 is configured with the SAML proxy's certificate. Authentication URLs and hence all login attempts are redirected to the SAML proxy 1104. The SAML proxy 1104 acts as a service provider to the original IdP 1105. The original IdP 1105 is configured to authenticate requests on behalf of the SAML proxy 1104 and sends the user back to the SAML proxy 1104 after authentication.

Upon successful authentication, the SAML proxy 1104 directs the user agent 1103 to the application proxy 1102 to achieve automatic routing to the application 1101.

The SAML proxy 1104 can monitor the application proxy's health and if the application proxy 1102 goes down or its functionality deteriorates, the SAML proxy 1104 routes the user directly to the application 1101, bypassing the application proxy 1102, and, thus, achieving failover. On the next login, the user can be sent back to the application proxy 1102, thereby achieving failback.

In this example, the user agent 1103 sends a request for a target resource 1106 to the application 1101. The application 1101 directs the user agent 1107 to the SAML proxy 1104. Using the IP address received in the received direction, the user agent 1103 sends a single sign on (SSO) request for the application 1108 to the SAML proxy 1104. The SAML proxy 1104 receives the request and directs 1109 the user agent 1103 to the IdP 1105. The user agent 1103 uses the IP address of the IdP 1105 to send an SSO request 1110 to the IdP 1105. The idP 1105 validates the SSO request and responds with an assertion of a valid SSO 1111 for the SAML proxy. The user agent 1103 sends the assertion 1112 to the SAML proxy 1104. The SAML proxy 1104 creates and assertion for the application proxy and sends the assertion and the IP address of the application proxy 1113 to the user agent 1103.

The user agent 1103 passes the assertion to the application proxy 1114 using the IP address of the application proxy 1102. The application proxy 1102 forwards the assertion 1115 to the application service provider (SP) 1101. The application SP 1101 provides the target resource URL to the user 1116, in this case the application proxy 1102 sits in front of the application SP 1101 and receives the target resource URL. The application proxy 1102 rewrites the target resource URL to redirect the URL to the application proxy. The application proxy 1102 sends the rewritten URL 1117 to the user agent 1103.

The user agent 1103 receives the URL and accesses the application using the target resource URL 1118 which happens to be redirected through the application proxy 1102. The application proxy 1102 forwards any accompanying request to the application SP 1101. The application SP 1101 responds to the accompanying request 1119. The application proxy 1102 receives the response and forwards the response 1120 to the user agent 1103.

Referring to FIG. 4, a proxy in an encrypted tunnel is shown. In an embodiment, a proxy 101 is inserted into the flow of traffic of an encrypted tunnel. The proxy 101 could bring together all applications available to each user into one or more portal pages. Each user would create an account and log into the proxy 101 to access the user's personal one or more portal pages, where the user can access particular applications listed on that portal page. In some situations, the application may only be visible inside the corporate network. In such cases, the network proxy 101 also allows for virtual private network (VPN) connections to the corporate firewall so that the proxy 101 can view the applications. One particular case to be considered in such routing is when the transport between the user and the server is encrypted via a protocol such as SSL. In such a case, the proxy server 101 creates an encrypted tunnel 403 between the user's content browser 401 and the proxy 101, and another encrypted tunnel 402 between the proxy 101 and the server 102.

4. Analytics and Reporting

Referring to FIG. 5, an access logging and reporting embodiment is shown. The system logs and analyzes all user activity via the proxy 101. The proxy 101 logs each network request by users to applications routed through the proxy 101. The proxy 101 writes the logs 503 into a file store 501 that can then be accessed by an administrator 502 for creation or display of reports and analytics 504. For example, the logs can be queried by the administrator 502 to the file store 501 for user name and any specified time window in order to extract all accesses by a specific user during the time window. Conversely, logs can be queried by document and time window to identify all users who accessed the document during the time window. Other combinations and queries are also possible. In an alternate embodiment, such queries may be made to a database server that uses file store 501 to populate its tables.

5. Data Tracking and Watermarking

Referring to FIG. 6, a document watermarking and tracking embodiment is shown. The system tracks data flowing through the proxy 101. For common document types such text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations, the proxy inserts a watermark that includes information such as user name, date and time of access, etc. For example, in the case where a user receives a document as an attachment to an email, the proxy 101 can insert a watermark in the attachment bearing the user's name, the date and time of download, etc. The proxy 101 can also insert a line at the bottom of the email advising the user of the watermark. If the user disseminates the document in a public forum, the document can be traced to the user via the watermark. The system allows an administrator to submit any document for identification in order to extract the information contained in the watermark.

As a deterrent, the system may also insert a message into an email advising the user of the watermark. For example, if the user receives a document as an attachment in an email, the system appends text to the email advising the user that the attachment has been watermarked. In the case where the user downloads a document from a web page, the system pops up an advisory message before proceeding with the download and watermarking the document.

In another embodiment, the proxy 101 replaces a portion of the content in the document with a network address. The proxy 101 can remove a portion of the content in the document 601, store the removed portion in a file store 501, and replace the content in the document with the network address of content 602 as stored in the proxy 101. When the document is viewed, a call can be made by the document reader over the network 105 to the proxy 101 for the content stored on the proxy or file store 501. The call may include identifying information as the time of day, location of user, watermark inside the document, etc. The proxy 101 can fetch the content from the file store 501 and forward the content 603 to the user 104 for insertion into the document.

In the foregoing, the proxy 101 logs each access to the replaced content including information such as time of access, identity of the user, type of user device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.), network address, geographic location of user, type of content browser or viewer, etc. The logs are available for analysis and reporting as discussed above. For example, an administrator may enter the name of a document and receive a list of all views of that document. Alternatively, all views of the document may be presented on a geographic map with each view being depicted by a flag. Clicking on a flag could pull up details about that view including time of view, user name, etc. In another embodiment, the proxy 101 can maintain a searchable index of all documents that were watermarked by the proxy. In such case, an administrator could search for documents by keyword to receive a list of all such documents, and then drill down on each unique document in the list to obtain a report of all views of the document either as a list or as a map.

In another embodiment, the proxy 101 may be configurable so that some portions or all of the content in the document may be replaced with network addresses, thereby limiting access to the content to only those users authorized to view the content or specific portions. More generally, different users may be allowed access to different portions of the content, so that sensitive portions of the content are effectively redacted in their entirety for some users. Redactions can be dynamically controlled over the network in that a user's permission to view portions of the content may be turned on or off by the administrator.

In an embodiment, a collection of documents, e.g., a digital file folder, etc., may be made available for a configurable time window to a group of users. Each document in the collection may have its contents replaced with a network address as discussed above. At the end of the time window, the original content is removed from the network address, thus, making the content inaccessible. The benefit of this embodiment is that, during the time window, the users can view the documents or freely email them as attachments. At the end of the time window, the contents of the documents are no longer available even within the emailed attachments.

6. Browser Cache Management

Referring to FIG. 7, a configurable browser cache management embodiment is shown. In an embodiment, content browsers used to access content via the network proxy 101 may be managed. The network proxy 101 may be configured to ensure that a configurable portion of the content flowing through the proxy 101 may be marked to be non-cacheable by content browsers. This prevents sensitive content from being cached on browsers of mobile client devices. Furthermore, the network proxy 101 may be configured to ensure that login information such as user names and passwords cannot be stored in content browsers used to access content via the proxy 101.

The proxy 101 receives each request for content from the content browser 701 and forwards the request to the content server 102 on behalf of the proxy 101. Upon receiving a response 703 from the content server 102, the proxy 101 overwrites the cacheability attributes of the content 703. In the case of web browsers, content headers include cacheability attributes such as whether or not the piece of content may be cached and, in the event the content is cacheable, the duration for which it may be cached. The proxy 101 can override any cacheability attributes set by the content server 102 stipulating the content to be uncacheable.

7. Management Console and Accounting

Referring to FIG. 8, an access logging and reporting embodiment is shown. A management console 801 allows an administrator 502 to configure settings and view access reports. The management console 801 also keeps track of the users administered in the account and allows the administrator 502 to customize access control policies by users or groups of users. An administrator 502 can control access to data and applications for each user by creating and/or modifying access control rules 802. For instance, some users may not be allowed access to certain applications from their mobile devices. Other users may not be allowed access to some sensitive applications while traveling outside of the office building.

8. Data Encryption

Referring to FIG. 9, an encrypted storage embodiment is shown. The proxy 101 can encrypt data entered by the user (e.g., via a content browser 902) for storage on the server and decrypt the data on-the-fly when a user views the data (e.g., via a content browser 902). In such a case, if the security of the server is breached by an attacker, only the encrypted data is revealed. In an embodiment, the proxy 101 maintains encryption keys in a key store 901 for each group of users. When a user attempts to store data on the server 102, the proxy 101 can fetch the appropriate encryption keys from the key store 901, and encrypt the content prior to forwarding the content 903 to the server 102. In turn, when the user attempts to retrieve content from the server 102, the proxy 101 receives the encrypted content 903 from the server 102, retrieves decryption keys from the key store 901, decrypts the content, and forwards the content 904 to the user 902.

An embodiment includes the ability to search through and sort the encrypted data using keywords selected and/or specified by a user or other system. Typically, strongly encrypted data cannot be searched or sorted—a document that is encrypted it with a randomly chosen key using a strong algorithm, such as AES, is completely unintelligible and contains no visible trace of any words from the original document. This means that the encrypted document cannot be sorted or searched for the occurrence of any word occurring in the original document, even though the document can be decrypted to yield the original document in its entirety.

In this example, the proxy 101 can maintain a dictionary of words. Each dictionary entry can contain a word and an associated list of key-strings, e.g., the dictionary entry for the word “fox” may appear as: <fox: 8i8kjakf, jaskjfkafka, 8yq3q kjdsfkj>. When a user enters data for storage on the server 102, the proxy 101 encrypts the data in its entirety as described herein. The proxy 101 can append a random string P of length, e.g., 256 bits, within the encrypted data where certain words appear in the unencrypted data. For each word in the plaintext version of the data, the proxy 101 creates an entry in the dictionary if such an entry does not already exist. The proxy 101 appends the same string P to the list of key-strings for that word in the dictionary. For example, the proxy 101 might append a randomly chosen string such as “u7ajsfhjhhy” to the encrypted data where the word “fox” occurs in the data. The proxy 101 may also append the same string to the entry in the dictionary for “fox” so that, for example, the dictionary entry appears as: <fox: 8i8kjakf, jaskjfkafka, 8yq3q kjdsfkj, u7ajsfhjhhy>.

When a user enters a search query comprised of one or more keywords in a designated search box on his content browser 902, the user believes that he is connected to the server 102 and is performing the search via the server 102, instead, the proxy 101 services the content browser's query. The search box in the content browser 902 may be associated with a search application program that is routed to the proxy 101, as described above, that provides a search function for searching encrypted data stored on the server. The proxy 101 searches the entries in the dictionary for each of the one or more keywords. The proxy 101 then searches the encrypted data for each of the key-strings in the lists associated with each of the one or more keywords found in the dictionary. The proxy 101 then decrypts at least a portion of the encrypted data where a key-string is found and sends the decrypted data the user's device to be displayed.

An embodiment sorts the encrypted data alphabetically. The proxy 101 can encrypt all but the first character in each data field so that the encrypted data supports sorting by the first character in each data field.

9. Enhanced Application Performance

In an embodiment, application performance on networks that are congested or have high-latency such as cellular & public WIFI networks may be enhanced. The proxy 101 in the present invention optimizes the content for network conditions and device type. For example, the proxy 101 may compress all transmissions to the client device. The proxy 101 may also resize the content to further optimize performance based on the type of the device. For example, if the client device is a smartphone with a small screen, the proxy 101 may reduce the resolution of images embedded in the content. Furthermore, the proxy 101 may adjust packet transmission rates in network transport in order to maximize performance in networks with higher packet loss. For example, in cellular networks, when congestion is high, the packet loss rate goes up, thereby driving up the need to retransmit the same packets. Hence, although the raw transmission rate is high, the same packets are transmitted many times leading to a low information transfer rate. Under such conditions, the proxy 101 may automatically throttle the transmission rate down to achieve higher overall performance.

Note that, although separate embodiments are discussed herein, any combination of embodiments and/or partial embodiments discussed herein may be combined to form further embodiments.

10. Implementation Mechanisms—Hardware Overview

According to one embodiment, the techniques described herein are implemented by one or more special-purpose computing devices. The special-purpose computing devices may be hard-wired to perform the techniques, or may include digital electronic devices such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are persistently programmed to perform the techniques, or may include one or more general purpose hardware processors programmed to perform the techniques pursuant to program instructions in firmware, memory, other storage, or a combination. Such special-purpose computing devices may also combine custom hard-wired logic, ASICs, or FPGAs with custom programming to accomplish the techniques. The special-purpose computing devices may be desktop computer systems, portable computer systems, handheld devices, networking devices or any other device that incorporates hard-wired and/or program logic to implement the techniques.

For example, FIG. 10 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 1000 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system 1000 includes a bus 1002 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a hardware processor 1004 coupled with bus 1002 for processing information. Hardware processor 1004 may be, for example, a general purpose microprocessor.

Computer system 1000 also includes a main memory 1006, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 1002 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 1004. Main memory 1006 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 1004. Such instructions, when stored in non-transitory storage media accessible to processor 1004, render computer system 1000 into a special-purpose machine that is device-specific to perform the operations specified in the instructions.

Computer system 1000 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 1008 or other static storage device coupled to bus 1002 for storing static information and instructions for processor 1004. A storage device 1010, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is provided and coupled to bus 1002 for storing information and instructions.

Computer system 1000 may be coupled via bus 1002 to a display 1012, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), for displaying information to a computer user. An input device 1014, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 1002 for communicating information and command selections to processor 1004. Another type of user input device is cursor control 1016, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 1004 and for controlling cursor movement on display 1012. This input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in a plane.

Computer system 1000 may implement the techniques described herein using device-specific hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and/or program logic which in combination with the computer system causes or programs computer system 1000 to be a special-purpose machine. According to one embodiment, the techniques herein are performed by computer system 1000 in response to processor 1004 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 1006. Such instructions may be read into main memory 1006 from another storage medium, such as storage device 1010. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 1006 causes processor 1004 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions.

The term “storage media” as used herein refers to any non-transitory media that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine to operation in a specific fashion. Such storage media may comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 1010. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 1006. Common forms of storage media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid state drive, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip or cartridge.

Storage media is distinct from but may be used in conjunction with transmission media. Transmission media participates in transferring information between storage media. For example, transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 1002. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Various forms of media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 1004 for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk or solid state drive of a remote computer. The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 1000 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can receive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place the data on bus 1002. Bus 1002 carries the data to main memory 1006, from which processor 1004 retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory 1006 may optionally be stored on storage device 1010 either before or after execution by processor 1004.

Computer system 1000 also includes a communication interface 1018 coupled to bus 1002. Communication interface 1018 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 1020 that is connected to a local network 1022. For example, communication interface 1018 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card, cable modem, satellite modem, or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communication interface 1018 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation, communication interface 1018 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

Network link 1020 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, network link 1020 may provide a connection through local network 1022 to a host computer 1024 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 1026. ISP 1026 in turn provides data communication services through the world wide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the “Internet” 1028. Local network 1022 and Internet 1028 both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on network link 1020 and through communication interface 1018, which carry the digital data to and from computer system 1000, are example forms of transmission media.

Computer system 1000 can send messages and receive data, including program code, through the network(s), network link 1020 and communication interface 1018. In the Internet example, a server 1030 might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet 1028, ISP 1026, local network 1022 and communication interface 1018.

The received code may be executed by processor 1004 as it is received, and/or stored in storage device 1010, or other non-volatile storage for later execution.

11. Equivalents, Extensions, Alternatives and Miscellaneous

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. Thus, the sole and exclusive indicator of what is the invention, and is intended by the applicants to be the invention, is the set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific form in which such claims issue, including any subsequent correction. Any definitions expressly set forth herein for terms contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as used in the claims. Hence, no limitation, element, property, feature, advantage or attribute that is not expressly recited in a claim should limit the scope of such claim in any way. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for improving secure access to application programs, comprising: receiving, by a proxy server, a single-sign-on request from a device for access to an application program, the device directed by an application server to a cloud network location of the proxy server, the proxy server configured to authenticate computer security validation requests for the application program; directing, by the proxy server, the device to an identity provider by sending the device a network location of the identity provider, the identity provider configured to authenticate computer security validation requests for the proxy server, the device communicates directly with the identity provider using the network location of the identity provider, the identity provider redirects the device to the cloud network location of the proxy server with a single-sign-on validation after validation of the single-sign-on request; receiving, at the proxy server, the single-sign-on validation from the device; creating, by the proxy server, a valid identification assertion; directing, by the proxy server, the device to the application server by sending the device a network location of the application server and the valid identification assertion, the device communicates directly with the application server using the network location of the application server and the valid identification assertion, the device thereafter communicates directly with the application server for subsequent accesses to the application program.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the device is a user device.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the device is a user device, and wherein the user device sends a request for access to the application program to an application provider and receives a network location of the proxy server from the application provider.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the device is a user device, wherein the user device sends a request for access to the application program to an application provider and receives a network location of the proxy server from the application provider, and wherein the user device sends the single-sign-on request to the proxy server using the network location of the proxy server.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the proxy server and the identity provider exchange data using a Security Assertion Markup Language data format.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: wherein the application server is an application proxy server; monitoring, by the proxy server, operating status of the application proxy server; in response to the monitoring of the operating status of the application server detecting that the application server is no longer available, directing the device to an application provider by sending the device a network location of the application provider to the device.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: wherein the application server is an application proxy server; receiving, by the application proxy server, from the device the valid identification assertion with an associated Uniform Resource Locator for the application program rewriting, by the application proxy server, the valid identification assertion with the Uniform Resource Locator to be directed to the application proxy server; sending, by the application proxy server, the rewritten valid identification assertion to the device, wherein the application program is accessed by the device through the application proxy server.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: logging, by the proxy server, network requests from user devices to applications; creating a report relating to resource accesses based on the logged network requests.
 9. A non-transitory computer readable medium, storing software instructions, which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of: receiving, by a proxy server, a single-sign-on request from a device for access to an application program, the device directed by an application server to a cloud network location of the proxy server, the proxy server configured to authenticate computer security validation requests for the application program; directing, by the proxy server, the device an identity provider by sending the device a network location of the identity provider, the identity provider configured to authenticate computer security validation requests for the proxy server, the device communicates directly with the identity provider using the network location of the identity provider, the identity provider redirects the device to the cloud network location of the proxy server with a single-sign-on validation after validation of the single-sign-on request; receiving, at the proxy server, the single-sign-on validation from the device; creating, by the proxy server, a valid identification assertion; directing, by the proxy server, the device to the application server by sending the device a network location of the application server and the valid identification assertion, the device communicates directly with the application server using the network location of the application server and the valid identification assertion, the device thereafter communicates directly with the application server for subsequent accesses to the application program.
 10. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the device is a user device.
 11. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the device is a user device, and wherein the user device sends a request for access to the application program to an application provider and receives a network location of the proxy server from the application provider.
 12. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the device is a user device, wherein the user device sends a request for access to the application program to an application provider and receives a network location of the proxy server from the application provider, and wherein the user device sends the single-sign-on request to the proxy server using the network location of the proxy server.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the proxy server and the identity provider exchange data using a Security Assertion Markup Language data format.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the software instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause performance of: wherein the application server is an application proxy server; monitoring, by the proxy server, operating status of the application proxy server; in response to the monitoring of the operating status of the application server detecting that the application server is no longer available, directing the device to an application provider by sending the device a network location of the application provider to the device.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the software instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause performance of: wherein the application server is an application proxy server; receiving, by the application proxy server, from the device the valid identification assertion with an associated Uniform Resource Locator for the application program rewriting, by the application proxy server, the valid identification assertion with the Uniform Resource Locator to be directed to the application proxy server; sending, by the application proxy server, the rewritten valid identification assertion to the device, wherein the application program is accessed by the device through the application proxy server.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the software instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause performance of: logging, by the proxy server, network requests from user devices to applications; creating a report relating to resource accesses based on the logged network requests.
 17. A system that improves secure access to application programs, comprising: a proxy server, the proxy server configured to authenticate computer security validation requests for application programs; an application proxy server, the application proxy server directs all accesses to application programs from an application service provider to itself; a device request receiver, implemented at least partially in hardware at the proxy server, that receives from a device a single-sign-on request for access to an application program, the device directed by the application proxy server to a cloud network location of the proxy server; a device redirector, implemented at least partially in hardware at the proxy server, that directs the device to an identity provider by sending the device a network location of the identity provider, the identity provider configured to authenticate computer security validation requests for the proxy server, the device communicates directly with the identity provider using the network location of the identity provider, the identity provider redirects the device to the cloud network location of the proxy server with a single-sign-on validation after validation of the single-sign-on request; wherein the device request receiver receives the single-sign-on validation from the device; an assertion generator, implemented at least partially in hardware at the proxy server, that creates a valid identification assertion; wherein the device redirector directs the device to the application proxy server by sending the device a network location of the application proxy server and the valid identification assertion, the device communicates directly with the application server using the network location of the application server and the valid identification assertion, the device thereafter communicates directly with the application proxy server for subsequent accesses to the application program.
 18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the device is a user device.
 19. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the device is a user device, and wherein the user device sends a request for access to the application program to an application service provider and receives a network location of the proxy server from the application service provider.
 20. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the device is a user device, wherein the user device sends a request for access to the application program to an application service provider and receives a network location of the proxy server from the application service provider, and wherein the user device sends the single-sign-on request to the proxy server using the network location of the proxy server.
 21. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the proxy server and the identity provider exchange data using a Security Assertion Markup Language data format.
 22. The system as recited in claim 17, further comprising: an application proxy server monitor, implemented at least partially in hardware at the proxy server, that monitors operating status of the application proxy server; wherein the application proxy server monitor, in response to detecting that the application server is no longer available, directs the device to the application service provider by sending the device a network location of the application service provider to the device.
 23. The system as recited in claim 17, further comprising: an identification assertion receiver, implemented at least partially in hardware at the application proxy server, that receives from the device the valid identification assertion with an associated Uniform Resource Locator for the application program; a Uniform Resource Locator redirector, implemented at least partially in hardware at the application proxy server, that rewrites the valid identification assertion with the Uniform Resource Locator to be directed to the application proxy server; a Uniform Resource Locator transmitter, implemented at least partially in hardware at the application proxy server, that sends the rewritten valid identification assertion to the device, wherein the application program is accessed by the device through the application proxy server.
 24. The system as recited in claim 17, further comprising: an access logger, implemented at least partially in hardware at the proxy server, that logs network requests from user devices to applications; a report generator, implemented at least partially in hardware at the proxy server, that creates a report relating to resource accesses based on the logged network requests. 